Why is British public life dominated by men?

Kira Cochrane writes about the findings from her investigation of women journalists and reporters in the media. In one month, she counted the number of female journalists in newspaper bylines and logged the gender of the reporters on a news television programme and radio show. Cochrane found that in a typical month, 78% of newspaper articles were written by men, 72% of Question Time contributors were men and 84% of reporters and guests on Radio 4's Today show were men. Cochrane discusses some the reasons behind women’s poor visibility in the media citing the pressure of parenthood as the main reason with the majority of women journalists and reporters exiting the media industry when they are in their 30s.

Bibliographic Citation:

Cochrane, K (4 December 2011): Why is British public life dominated by men?, The Guardian (accessed 14 January 2012)